Friday, July 20, 2012

Haha, you Canadian rascals you, not sure where to begin on this blast of Canadian insanity known as Jurassic Shark. Director Brett Kelly's Jurassic Shark opens with the obligatory bubble-headed girls out for a calm sun bathing, and of course they are eaten by the unseen shark. The dialogue in this film is decidedly juvenile and I am positive that was the intent, or at least I hope it was.

It turns out that there is this research scientist, who happens to be wearing a dirty and rather ill-fitting lab coat saying he can explore for new oil wells, all be it illegally, and accidentally drills and uses dynamites too deep, and unleashes a 50 foot terror that has a penchant for eating young nubile human flesh.

At 75 minutes including credits, Jurassic Shark at times is a bit slow moving, but the final 30 minutes are rather entertaining as the surviving three girls have to contend with a trio of villains who are after their stole artwork, which was lost when their rowboat capsized, due to the shark pushing it over.

Yeah I said row boat, apparently their extreme getaway plan calls for a 8 foot boat that under human power can reach such ludicrous speeds of 4 to 6 miles per hour.In fact no one on this island owns any sort of motorized vehicle, might be a good way of actually getting off the island. As stated before, I had to laugh, Jurassic Shark is pure silliness. Sometimes, there are some rather slow parts in Jurassic Shark, especially when the group is walking to find the research station.

The special effects are no worse than some of MTI or films from The Asylum, but the dimensions of the shark seem to change with his distance from the victims. Some of the acting, especially from Christine Emes as Tia, and leader of the villainous art thieves Angela Parent as Barb is decent for a low budget film. The two ladies displayed a variety of emotion and did their best with a script that was very much on the ridiculous side. For those who are slagging the film, cause it has no nudity, come on, get a life and a live girl to make love to, yeah I said it!

Overall, I would have to say a cautious rent, ONLY if you like sardonic low budget silliness. I am a sucker for low budget schlock cinema, Jurassic Shark rates a sexy Canadian girl chomping 5.5 out of 10. I rate the sultry Christine Emes, who is a spitting image of the frizzy haired, 90s version of Dina Meyer, a spicy hot 8.5 out of10! Apparently the folks at the Dudez production company have more insanity on the way with their release of My Fair Zombie! For more info on Jurassic Shark chum your browsers over to their facebook page @ https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jurassic-Shark/203007103092025

My interest in science fiction goes as far back into my childhood as I can remember. Curiosity and discovery are two elements of this genre that have attracted me, and quite frankly most sci-fi shows today have too much fighting, mindless action, and steer away from these attributes. As the advances in technology have furthered in the last 1/4 century, so have the budgets for science fiction TV shows and movies, often reaching millions of dollars per episode, and pushing the 200 million mark for theatrical films. It is quite rare that a low budget sci-fi undertaking exudes the technological and artistic achievement, along with distinct intelligent story telling as Blake Calhoun's web based Continuum series does.

Not to be confused with the Canadian TV series, this web based Continuum opens with lead character Raegen awaking from a slumber seemingly alone on a spaceship. Although it evokes memories of Alien, Raegen, played with vim, curiosity, and energy by Melanie Merkosky has no recollection of why she is on the ship and how she got to the location in deep space. Melanie is a wonderful actress, not only is she attractive, having a distinctly clear speaking voice, she has obviously had extensive training in how to react with her eyes, and body language. I captured this image below as she is discovering her surroundings on the ship, almost wondering in amazement, yet confused. By clicking on the picture it can be made wallpaper sized.

The audience later finds out that the ship is controlled by a computer, voiced by Taryn O'Neill. The computer tries to assist Raegen in her quest to piece together her life, but even the computer itself is damaged, thus setting up an intriguing beginning to the series.

Further into the season Raegen discovers that she is not the only one on board. She meets Tipton, played by Brad Hawkins. Tipton also has a bout of amnesia, but his memory is returning at a faster rate, and the computer believes he is a mercenary set to kill her! This is a good plot complication, and can be taken in any direction, and Brad is a good choice of actors, showing compassion, yet looking like he is hiding something. Below is the Image of Tipton, portrayed by Brad Hawkins.

Everything from the plot, settings, background, CGI and acting are very professional, and I am sure with a full scale budget, this could be made into a series or feature length movie. Melanie is a great actress to pull off the lead character, and by having her start out with amnesia, her abilities can be slowly developed like in The Long Kiss Goodnight. With a solid premise and the boundless possibility direction I can easily envision Continuum having a long series TV run.

The first season of the series was filmed in 9 parts, each part running approx. 5 minutes. A second season is planning to release this fall.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Dan's Movie Report readers know from time to time I review short films. I try to pick the ones that have a unique artistic flair, and New Zealand's Echo is a captivating example of this characteristic. Ambiguous, enigmatic, and overtly sexual, Echo is a psychotic, socially deviant look into the mind, open to the viewer's interpretation.

Echo was filmed as part of New Zealand's 48 hour film festival http://www.v48hours.co.nz/2012/ The team's were divided and on 7pm Friday night they were given a genre, and the final project had to be turned in by 7pm Sunday. Four compulsory elements were included in the films; An unlucky character named Nicky Brick, a leaf prop, a line of dialogue "I did that", and slo-mo for a technical element. The films all had to be between one and seven minutes in length and include a thirty second into introducing the team.

Team Gullivers Strange Amphetamine opted to choose erotic thriller as their genre and in-spite of some technical problems, manage to pull off a film that shocks the senses, and warps the mind.

Echo opens with the main characters walking out in the compulsory slo-mo style and flairs out into a deep psychological trip, full of exhibitionism, thrusting the viewer headlong to a bizarre trip into a forest wrought with allegory. The plot is left to much interpretation, but follows essentially a descent into madness delving into the dark recesses of a psychotic mind.

Above Pic: Actress Breigh Fouhy as Nicky, sultry, and in the heat of passion.

Actress Breigh Fouhy portrays the lead character Echo/Nicky Brick, a woman trapped in her mind, full of pain and anguish, bearing her naked body and soul to the world. The attractive Breigh put forth extreme effort in the name of art for Echo, including wandering around in a cold forest, completely naked. The nudity in Echo is an integral part of the film, not just because of the genre, but to show the emotional trauma, bearing her soul to the world. Breigh has fantastic facial expressions, and her body moves in lithe fashion, obviously from dance experience. Very rarely in short film is an actor asked to stretch their acting chops in such a way. Hopefully, Breigh can be plucked from New Zealand if she desires, and be given a feature length film to display her raw passion and distinct talent. Breigh's agency contact info is: http://robertbruce.heroku.com/all/detail/40159

All of the actors in Echo do a solid job, and further the lead character's descent into utter madness and chaos. They torment Nicky Brick's mind and soul with their actions. Surprising Nicky her after the sex, a museum tour group with cameras film her reaction, and cause her to scamper like a frightened child. Breigh looks scared and displays a wealth of emotions throughout Echo, see pic below:

Grae Burton and Rod Johns wrote, produced, and edited Echo, Grae directed and Rod was DOP. With all of the dissolves and quick cuts in Echo, this is quite a technological achievement that the entire project took only two days from concept to finished project. Echo was shot at the Pah Homstead and Gallery and Rannoch House. Both of these locations are owned by associate producer Sir James Wallace, they were hauntingly beautiful, and provided a fitting backdrop to Echo.

I am curious to see more work from these talented individuals, as a film I rate Echo a 7.5 out of 10. A final word of warning, this film warrents an NC-17 rating I am providing the link to watch the entire film below, Echo is for adults only. http://www.v48hours.co.nz/screening-room/2012/auckland/echo/

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

From Breaking Glass Pictures, Screaming in High Heals is a cool 63 minute documentary flick focusing on 80s era scream queens Brinke Stevens, Michelle Bauer, and Linnea Quigley. The documentary is a highly entertaining look inside the lives and dreams of the actresses and how they ultimately found their way to Hollywood.

I met Brink in a convention a few years back and found her to be quite amicable. I had no idea she had a masters degree in Biology! Of the three actresses her story stands out as being unique, as she could have easily become a scientist. Actually it was her husband Dave Stevens, who was an influence in her decision, as he was an established comic book artist.

In actuality all three ladies are very well spoken and come across as being likable and fun. Linnea seems like a riot with a sardonic sense of humor. The documentary includes David Decoteau, Richard Gabai, Ken Hall, Ted Newsom, Jay Richardson, and Fred Olen Ray, all guys who worked with the actresses giving their prospective on them.

In addition to the actresses the Screaming in High Heels delves into the rise of video tape and the video stores. This ties in and reminds the viewer of the 80s direct to video market. The 80s were a far different time in low budget Hollywood, there was no internet, the budgets were ultra-low 70,000 to 80,000 dollars. There was no computer editing, and sometimes the shoots were only seven days!

Overall Screaming in High Heels is an very good look into the lives of Brink, Michelle, and Linnea, with a backdrop of 80s ideas, I rate this flick a 7.5 out of 10. The film is available from the Amazon link below.

Monday, July 16, 2012

Consistently
scanning the internet for cool things to watch, I found this web series
called Continuum. Not to be confused with the big budget Canadian
series, this space based Continuum follows the journey of Raegen
(Melanie Merkosky) as she wakes from a slumber with a severe case of
amnesia and no one around except a computer voice (Taryn O'Neill)

I
watched the first two episodes and must say they are very enjoyable.
Melanie is an attractive, likable actress, the settings, and costuming of Continuum exude professionalism.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Landlord: Time To Pay The Rent is a British Independent Action Thriller written and produced by Rob Ho ‘Yiu Fay (his first feature length project). Directed by Avone Keene, with Vic Marke as Action Director, it features a host of acting talent that includes Jessica Jay [Anaphylaxis], Zara Phythian [The Hike], Madeleine
Havell [Masterpiece], Ben Shockley [Death], Mark Noyce [Killer Bitch] and Nick Sheard [Furor]. Rob plays the lead role and of recent note was a Special Action Performer in 47 Ronin. Zara and Rob promise high octane fighting in The Landlord.

Landlord tells the story of Rob’s character, Louis Fay, who honors his father’s wish by returning to the UK to look after the family business. Louis finds himself on the receiving end of a number of unpleasant visits. A Property Kingpin, Warwick [Mark Noyce] has the business in his sights but had not reckoned on the arrival of Louis.Warwick targets another business owned by Kay Jones [Jessica Jay], and pressures her to such a point that she can take no more, and calls upon the help of her sister Lauren [Zara Phythian]. With the passage of time, both Louis and Laurens’ paths cross because they share the common language of violence. They unite as Warwick takes what is dear to them both, and they are forced to face him and his army together, for the last time.

Landlord promises a strong story coupled with exciting action. There is a suggestion that the film is inspired by true events, which might be unsurprising given that Rob is actually a Landlord as well as an Actor; just exactly which elements of the film are indeed true, can be left for speculation
within the audience’s imagination.

Special mention goes to newcomers, Dionne Vincent, Keir Moffatt and David Lee Pickton.

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